Is St. George a Good BQ Course in 2027?

Published August 12, 2026 · Estimates, updated each registration cycle

Short answer: it is still a fast course, but it is no longer a free lunch. The St. George Marathon drops roughly 2,560 feet from the start near Central, Utah, at about 5,240 feet to the finish in downtown St. George at about 2,680 feet. That puts it over the Boston Athletic Association's 1,500-foot threshold, so from the 2027 race onward the time you submit gets five minutes added to it. Your clock time does not change. Your application time does.

The index, in plain numbers

The BAA's tiers are simple. A net drop of 1,500 to 2,999 feet adds 5:00. A net drop of 3,000 to 5,999 feet adds 10:00. At 6,000 feet or more the course is not allowed for qualifying at all. St. George sits in the first tier at roughly 2,560 feet, so it takes the 5:00 adjustment, not the 10:00 one and not a ban. The full mechanics are in the downhill rule explainer.

Here is what that costs in practice. Our central estimate for the 2027 cutoff is about 5:15 under the standard, which is an estimate and not a BAA figure. To sit at that same estimated line off St. George you need a raw buffer of roughly 10:15, because five minutes of it disappears on submission. For a man aged 18 to 34 with a 2:55:00 standard, that is the difference between running 2:49:45 on a flat course and 2:44:45 at St. George for the same odds. For a woman aged 18 to 34 the St. George target lands near 3:14:45. The course is generous, but it is not five-minutes generous for every runner, and that is the whole question.

What the course actually gives you

The descent is not uniform, which is the part reputation gets wrong. The first six miles fall quickly, then the course climbs the Veyo hill, a genuine several-hundred-foot grind around miles seven to ten that has ended plenty of goal paces. From Dameron Valley the road tilts down again and the last ten miles are the fast ones. An early October start in the high desert usually means cold air at the line and comfortable racing temperatures, and the race is chip timed, USATF certified and sanctioned, so the time itself is unquestionably valid for Boston.

The cost of that free speed is muscular. Sustained downhill running loads the quads eccentrically, and runners who have not trained downhill often find their legs give out in the final miles even though their aerobic system is fine. If you pick St. George for the profile, you have to train for the profile.

Timing and entry

The race is held in early October and uses a lottery, so a bib is not guaranteed. October also puts it after Registration Week, which for the 2027 race runs September 14 through 18, 2026 (see the registration dates). A St. George time run this autumn is therefore a qualifier for the following year's Boston, banked early in that window with plenty of room for a second attempt.

Verdict

Run St. George if you want it for its own sake, if you train downhill, or if you are confident of clearing the standard by ten minutes or more. If your qualifier is going to be tight, a flat certified course keeps every second you earn, and the comparison is worth making before you enter the lottery: see which marathons are too downhill and the best flat BQ marathons. Whatever you choose, run your goal time through the predictor to see the buffer it produces against thirteen years of real cutoffs, then add the five minutes back on if that goal time is coming from St. George. The tool does not yet model the index for you.